Marilyn Doocy’s son Marty Matteson has Down syndrome and lives in his own home with assistance paid for by Medicaid. Iowa’s shift to privatized Medicaid is making changes that could leave Matteson without a safe option for staying in his home.

Advocates for Iowans with disabilities suffered a setback when a federal judge recently rejected key parts of their lawsuit against the state’s top human services official.

Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger denied Disability Rights Iowa’s request that its lawsuit be declared a “class action” on behalf of more than 15,000 disabled Iowans who are on Medicaid. She also denied the group's request for a preliminary injunction, under which she would have ordered Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven to change how his department treats such Iowans.

Disability Rights Iowa filed the lawsuit in June, contending that state officials are systematically preventing Iowans with disabilities from obtaining services they need to stay in their homes instead of moving into nursing homes. The lawsuit focuses on cuts in services disabled Iowans have seen since Iowa hired private companies last year to manage its Medicaid program.

Disability Rights Iowa’s leader said Wednesday that its legal fight will continue despite the setbacks.

Jerry Foxhoven(Photo: Special to the Register)

The suit was initially filed on behalf of six Iowans with disabilities, but their lawyers wanted to expand the case to represent the interests of all Iowans who receive Medicaid benefits because of brain injuries or physical or intellectual disabilities. Goodgame Ebinger denied that request late last month, ruling that “the proposed class is vague and indefinite.”

The judge also noted that all six of the initial plaintiffs in the lawsuit received their benefits via AmeriHealth Caritas, a managed care company that quit covering Iowans last month because of a contract dispute with the Department of Human Services. The plaintiffs complained that AmeriHealth arbitrarily cut payments for in-home care services, and that Foxhoven had a legal duty to prevent such actions on behalf of the state.

The plaintiffs will now have their benefits overseen by the managed-care company UnitedHealthcare, or directly by the Department of Human Services.

Disability Rights Iowa is a federally chartered group representing the legal rights of people with disabilities. Its executive director, Jane Hudson, noted that the judge ruled in a way that would allow the group to try again to have the lawsuit declared a class action. In the meantime, she said, the group will continue to press the suit on behalf of the initial six plaintiffs and could add more plaintiffs individually.